Happy Halloween!

Hello, learning friends!

Take a look at all the learning fun we had this great Halloween morning!

We started our day with Math algebra puzzles which sound hard but were actually SO fun!
Ghost, goblins and Math. Who knew?

Next up - secret Halloween Math puzzles. What were we going to create?

Ta Da! Math Bats!

After locker break, we got together with our reading groups to practice our Halloween Reader's Theatre scripts once more before presenting to the class.

We volunteered to go first and even had a special candy surprise at the end!

Oooo.... les squelettes! 

Le Cri!

Les fantômes!

Not pictured here, but also very, very fun was our Chanson de squelettes listening activity.
CLICK HERE to see (and hear) the song! (And be prepared to sing it for the rest of the evening!)

For the remainder of the morning, we voted to put our artistic skills to use by creating colourful Halloween-themed designs!

We are all Halloween artistes!

Thanks for a fun morning, everyone! :)

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🎃

P.S. And a special bonus for everyone who made it to the end of this post... CLICK HERE to see us singing along to the most well-loved Halloween song of all time!

Wednesday Agenda Items

*****
Agenda

1. Spirit Week is THIS week! See THIS POST for all of the fun!

2. Calcul mental assessment (Coupe et colle les zeros) - Monday

3. Please note le casse croute will be closed on tomorrow (Thursday).

Tuesday!

Hello!

We had a busy morning of learning this morning!

In Math we started reviewing multiples and factors in anticipation of our upcoming assessment (likely late next week). It's easy for us to get factors and multiples mixed up, so having a chance to use them both in the same Math task was very helpful.

Next up, in Français, we were treated to some very creative CFOO presentations! Bravo!

After our presentations, we continued our study of the story, Suresh, le garçon qui venait du loin.

After reading the first two paragraphs of the text, we had a chance to ask questions and make additional predictions. We came up with a great list of things to wonder about as we get set to continue our reading tomorrow!

We wrapped up the morning with Science doing one of Mme Careen's favourite activities - graphing! 

We will be going through the step-by-step process of how to represent data on a graph together as a class over the next few days before students tackle it on their own to represent the Tomatosphère data we have been collecting over the past 33 days. SO fun! :)

*****
Agenda

1. Spirit Week is THIS week! See THIS POST for all of the fun!

2. Section B Calcul mental (Coupe et colle les zeros) - Tomorrow (Wednesday)

3. HPV vaccinations - Tomorrow (Wednesday)

4. Please note le casse croute will be closed on Thursday.

Happy Monday!

Hello, learning friends!
It was great to back in the classroom again after our three-day weekend.

Our Monday morning highlights included:
* Dressing up in patterns for Day 1 of Spirit Week!  SO stylish! :)
* Starting a new short-story study in Français about a boy named Suresh
* Making our last official Tomatosphère observation! 🍅

We are looking forward to a great week of learning!

*****
Agenda

1. Spirit Week is THIS week! See THIS POST for all of the fun!

2. Our first Pizza Lunch of the year will be Thursday, October 31!
Pizza must be pre-ordered TOMORROW (Tuedsay). 
$2 per slice; cheese and pepperoni+cheese.

3. CFOO #2 Créativité - TOMORROW! (Tuesday)

4. Section B Calcul mental (Coupe et colle les zeros) - Wednesday

5. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Thursday Agenda Items

*****
Agenda

1. Section A Calcul mental (Coupe et colle les zeros) - Monday

2. Picture re-takes - Monday in the afternoon.

3. Spirit Week is next week! See THIS POST for all of the fun!

4. Our first Pizza Lunch of the year will be Thursday, October 31!
Pizza must be pre-ordered on Tuesday, October 29.
$2 per slice; cheese and pepperoni+cheese.

5. CFOO #2 Créativité - Tuesday, October 29

6. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Have a great weekend! :)

Wednesday Agenda Items

*****
Agenda

1. Items to work on at home if more time is required:
- Mathé: nombres premiers et composés
- Français: brouillon les buts

2. Spirit Week is next week! See THIS POST for all of the fun!

3. CFOO #2 Créativité - Tuesday, October 29

4. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

5. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Tuesday Agenda Items

*****
Agenda

1. Spirit Week is next week! See THIS POST for all of the fun!

2. CFOO #2 Créativité - Tuesday, October 29

3. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

4. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Can You Beat the Tax Man?

Happy Monday!

Can you beat the tax man?
This morning in Math, working in randomized groups at the white board, we sure tried!

Please ask me how I worked with my group and what strategy we used to try to keep as much money as possible! (Also, please ask me about our Tomatosphère observations for today... we came back after the weekend to an unexpected surprise!)

*****
Agenda

1. October Scholastic Orders - due TODAY!
Online orders can be made at http://www.scholastic.ca/

2. CFOO #2 Créativité - Tuesday, October 29

3. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

4. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Have a great week!

SPIRIT WEEK!

Our first SPIRIT WEEK of the year is coming soon!
Be sure to show your SCHOOL SPIRIT next week (October 28-November 1) by dressing up!

Monday: Les motifs se mêlent! (Pattern Mix-Up Day)!
Polka dots, plaid, and stripes, oh my!
*Remember: Picture retakes are this afternoon!*

Tuesday: La tête décorée (Dress Up Your Face Day)!
Decorate your head in any way you please! 

Hat or face, crazy hair don't care…dress yourself up from the neck up!

Wednesday: Maillot mercredi (Jersey Day)!
Let's Go! Show your school spirit by wearing your fave jersey/sports gear today!

Thursday: Jour de costumes (Halloween Costumes)!
Wear your Halloween costumes!
Please remember that all costumes must be school appropriate. 
Masks and weapons associated with costumes will not be permitted.

Friday: Journée de PJ (Pyjama Day)!
After a night of chilly trick-or-treating stay warm and cozy in your jammies all day! You're welcome! :)

Student Vote!

Happy Friday!

This morning, in anticipation of the upcoming Federal Election, we had a chance to cast our vote at school though the program Student Vote.
What is Student Vote?
"Student Vote is an authentic learning program that provides students with the opportunity to experience the voting process firsthand and practice the habits of active and informed citizenship." -studentvote.ca

During period 3, we went to the library and lined up at the appropriate table to check in. After presenting our student ID cards as a form of identification, we received our ballot, proceeded to the voting station to cast our vote and then placed our ballot into the ballot box.

The results of our election will be announced on Tuesday.
Cananda-wide Student Vote results will be shared on TV, so be sure to in tune and follow the news coverage on Election Day!

Will our Grade 6 voting results match up with Canada's upcoming vote on Monday, October 21?
We'll see! :)

*****
Agenda

1. October Scholastic Orders - due Monday, October 21.
Online orders can be made at http://www.scholastic.ca/

2. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

3. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Have a nice weekend!

Talking Circle

We are fortunate to have the very wonderful Pam Peristy with us over the coming week to guide us through 5 Talking Circle sessions. Pam is an Indigenous Liaison with our school division.

Pam kindly allowed me to share the following introduction she wrote to our staff here at Ness before beginning her time with us:

I bring Indigenous perspective to the classrooms through talking circles. This practice of sitting together at the same level using our voices and stories to relate to one another builds connectedness between all individuals in the classroom.

I provide teachings and knowledge in medicines, 7 teachings, ceremony, residential school, environment (connections to the land) and treaty. I use subject relevant and related books which provide opportunity for sharing in the circles and promote open dialogue in these areas. One of my goals has been a focus on empathy versus sympathy regarding reconciliation. 

Every class is unique, therefore every circle creates a different energy and experience.

Pleas ask me about our Talking Circle with Pam this morning - What questions did we share? What were my answers? Why do we call a rock a "grandfather?"

*****
Agenda

1. Math - Les facteurs booklet.
We did not have time to check and correct our booklets this morning.
Please be sure to have the first three pages done for tomorrow (Friday).

2. October Scholastic Orders - due Monday, October 21.
Online orders can be made at http://www.scholastic.ca/

3. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

4. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Wednesday Agenda Items

*****
Agenda

1. Math - livret de facteurs (first 3 pages) - tomorrow (Thursday)

2. October Scholastic Orders - due Monday, October 21.
Online orders can be made at http://www.scholastic.ca/

3. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

4. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Happy Tuesday!

Hello, friends of learning!
It's great to be back after a weekend of snow shoveling and pie eating!

Today in Français, we started writing our drafts for our goals. After Mme Careen modeled how to write a goal using one of her own personal goals for the year, we had an uninterrupted 10-minute writing block in which to get started. Our goal during our writing time was to get our ideas on paper and not to worry about spelling or to stop about English words as this only slows us down when trying to get our "first thinking" down on paper.

Our next step during our writing block tomorrow will depend on what we accomplished today. Perhaps we need more time to write our draft, perhaps we are ready to start re-reading our draft and making changes to the structure/word choice, perhaps we are ready to start editing for grammar and spelling.

We will continue to approach our writing in small, focused blocks, with the goal of having a finished, perhaps already-edited, draft completed by the end of the week.

Please ask me about my goals for the school year and about what I was able to accomplish in my first 10-minute writing block today.

*****
Agenda

1. Anime/Manga Club - tomorrow (Wednesday)

2. October Scholastic Orders - due Monday, October 21.

3. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

4. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

A Frosty Friday!

Happy Friday, learning friends!

Despite the weather being frightful outside, our classroom was warm and full of thankful pumpkins!

We took the 10 sentences we wrote in Français yesterday and wrote them on orange strips of paper.

Following a set of instructions Mme posted on the board, we turned our sentences into a pumpkin!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a great weekend!

*****
Agenda

1. Anime/Manga Club - Wednesday, October 16.

2. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

3. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Thursday!

Hello! Happy Brrrrrs-day!
Despite the wacky weather outside, we were able to accomplish a lot inside room 208.

We started our day with our very first round of CFOO presentations and were treated to many great speeches! Bravo to all of our presenters! :)

We also had time this morning to observe our tomatoes (not much new to report today) and complete the rough drafts for our "Je suis reconnaissant(e) pour.." writing activity in Français.

Tomorrow we will be publishing our texts in a fun, themed, round-and-orange way, so be on the look-out for a special Thanksgiving surprise coming home just in time for holiday Monday! :)

*****
Agenda

1. Anime/Manga Club - Wednesday, October 16.

2. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

3. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

I am thankful for...

Happy Wednesday, learning friends!
We had a busy morning of learning!

After working on factors in Math, doing our daily Tomatosphère observations in Science and taking time for daily reading in Français, we took some time to reflect on things that we are thankful for.
After having brainstorming time with our table groups, we generated a list of ideas together as a class, dividing the words into "féminin" and "masculin" groups.
We will use this list tomorrow for our "Je suis reconnaissant(e) pour___." ("I am thankful for __.") writing activity. We will work on the writing and editing tomorrow and will then be publish our text in a fun, unique way on Friday morning. Stay tuned! :)

What are some of the things you are thankful for?

*****
Agenda

1. CFOO Presentation - tomorrow (Thursday)

2. Reflect on 10 things you are thankful for - tomorrow (Thursday)

3. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

4. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

A Quick Tomato Update!

Our tomato seeds must feel right at home here in Room 208 because they are growing so well!
Since Friday, we've had 17 new seeds sprout and all of the plants are growing taller each day!
Take a look!

Group L

Group M

*****
Agenda

1. Math Super Hero pages - now overdue.

2. CFOO Presentation - Thursday (Day 4)
(Mme Careen will be in her room on Wednesday at 12:15 for any students who wish to review
and practice their speeches.)

3. Birthday Card-Making Club - Every second Wednesday at 12:10 starting this Wednesday

4. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

5. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Monday Agenda Items

*****
Agenda

1. Math Super Hero pages - now overdue.

2. Calcul mental assessment - tomorrow (Tuesday)

3. CFOO Presentation - Thursday (Day 4)

4. Birthday Card-Making Club - Every second Wednesday at 12:10 starting this Wednesday

5. Picture re-takes - Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

6. HPV vaccinations - Wednesday, October 30.

Looking forward to a great week!

Scientiferrific Friday!

Happy Friday, learning friends!

We had a Science-filled morning this morning, full of pennies, eye-droppers and 

sprouting tomato seeds! Hooray!

We completed our first Science mini-lab today. We were testing to see how many drops of water can fit on the surface of a penny. Despite the 'simple' nature of this activity, it was important for us to carefully follow the steps and additional instructions given to us by Mme Careen to ensure we repeated the experiment as precisely as possible.

Now that the experiment portion is complete, we will work together as a class to analyze our data and complete the Observations and Conclusion part of the lab. Please ask me how many drops of water I was able to fit onto the surface of my penny!

And, let's not forget about those tomatoes! We spotted our first germinated seeds in class yesterday, and now they are really taking off! Today we observed that Group L has 12 germinated seeds and Group M has 9! Wow! Please ask me about my seeds: 

Have either of mine germinated yet? What is my prediction about the seed groups? 

Which group has been to space? How did I make my prediction?

Next week promises to bring on so many new Tomato discoveries! It's going to be great!

*****
Agenda

1. Math Super Hero pages - now overdue.

2. Reflect on 4 - 5 personal goals that we would like to complete this school year.
(Brainstorm this weekend so that we're ready to start writing on Monday).

3. Calcul mental assessment - Tuesday, October 8

4. CFOO Presentation - Thursday, October 10 (Next Day 4)

5. Time is running out! Your Chevalier Clothing Store is only open until Sunday!

6. Le casse-croute will be open on Monday, October 7!

7. Birthday Card-Making Club - Every second Wednesday at 12:10 starting Wednesday, October 9.

8. Picture re-takes will be Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

9. HPV vaccinations will be Wednesday, October 30.

*Have a great weekend!*

CFOO!

Happy, happy Thursday!

The main event in Français today was CFOO!

What is CFOO, you ask?

CFOO (Le Club Fabuleux des Orateurs et Oratrices) is a public speaking "club" (similar to its English friend, TUSC) that will help students improve their oral French skills through short presentations. There are fifteen different presentation options, separated into three categories: Research, Opinion and Creativity. 

Our CFOO preparation and presentation periods alternate on Day 4, periods 2 and 3.

For the first presentation, we will be choosing one of the five Opinion options. We will prepare a short oral presentation, fulfilling all of the criteria (listed on the page we have in our binder). Our presentations can be in the form of speeches, but they can also take on various other forms: a poster, a puppet play, a song, a poem, a painting, a PowerPoint, a movie, etc. As long as our public-speaking skills are on display, the possibilities are truly endless!

Leading up to the first presentation, we will continue discussing what we should keep in mind while making an oral presentation to the class. This will include: keeping eye contact with the audience, having a confident stance while at the front of the room, projecting our voice and speaking at a good pace with expression.

Now that we have had our one work period to prepare, the rest of the work (finishing up our speech and practicing our presentation) will be done on our own time. If we would like Mme Careen to review our speech with us, we are welcome to make an appointment to work with her at lunch over the coming week. Our first CFOO presentations are set for Thursday, October 10. Mark your calendars! :)

*****
Agenda

1. Section B Calcul mental (Coupe les zéros identiques) - tomorrow (Friday)

2. Math Super Hero pages - tomorrow (Friday)

3. CFOO Presentation - Thursday, October 10 (Next Day 4)

4. Time is running out! Your Chevalier Clothing Store is only open for a few more days!
Samples available until tomorrow (Friday) and online store open until Sunday, Oct 6.

5. Le casse-croute will be open on Monday, October 7!

6. Birthday Card-Making Club - Every second Wednesday at 12:10 starting Wednesday, October 9.

Learn how to make birthday cards and ensure every student in our school gets a unique card on their birthday! Fun! :)

7. Picture re-takes will be Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

8. HPV vaccinations will be Wednesday, October 30.

Tackling Problem-Solving in Math

Hello, friends of learning! Happy Wednesday!

We were busy this morning in Room 208!

In Math, we started our morning with an introduction to how we will be approaching "la résolution de problème" this year. Many of us have indicated we would like to improve on problem solving this year in Math and today was our first step.

First we read the question together as a class. We then we re-read the question sentence by sentence, working together to identify the key words and important information necessary to arrive at the answer. Mme then explained each part of the problem-solving page that we'll be tasked with filling in as part of the problem-solving process - we will be using the same graphic-organizer template each time we solve a word problem.

We were then divided into randomized groups of three to talk through our ideas and strategies of how we might solve the problem. Some of us chose to work standing at the white boards, while a few groups chose to sit down and work on a smaller white board. Each group was encouraged to use only one marker so that the focus was on communicating as a team rather than having three individuals working separately next to each other.

At the end of our collaboration time, we had a chance to step back and look at the work of all the other groups. This gave us a chance to notice different strategies and ways of organizing our work that perhaps we hadn't previously thought of.

Our next step will come tomorrow when Mme gives us the same question on paper and we - independently - will be responsible for showing our steps and communicating our thinking. Mme will then read through all of work and decide what our next steps as problem-solvers will be.
Phew! Not bad for a morning's Math work! :)

*****
Agenda

1. Section B Calcul mental (Coupe les zéros identiques) - Friday

2. Math Super Hero pages - Friday

3. CFOO Presentation - Thursday, October 10 (Next Day 4)
** More information about CFOO coming soon! **

4. Your Chevalier Clothing Store is now OPEN! Yay!
Samples available until Friday, Oct 4 and online store open until Sunday, Oct 6.

5. Le casse-croute will be open on Monday, October 7!

6. Picture re-takes will be Monday, October 28 in the afternoon.

7. HPV vaccinations will be Wednesday, October 30.

Tuesday

Hello, friends!

We had a great morning of learning!

In Math, we started off with a Robot question - how often will 2 robots meet up on a 100-step path if they are each programmed to walk a different amount of steps each time they move forward?

After discussing our answers, we finished up our "Les multiples" assessment task from yesterday and also had the chance to work on our multiples super heros.

In Français, after reading with a partner, we began writing the summary for the Terry Fox article we've been reading as a class. Working together as a class and using a graphic organizer and a set of transition words to guide our writing, we were able to summarize the first two paragraphs of the article and will continue working on this task tomorrow.

Finally, in Science, we made our daily tomato observations and watched a short Brain Pop about the scientific method in preparation for our first mini-lab experiment that we'll be completing in class tomorrow. Be sure to stay tuned to see what we'll be testing! :)

*****
Agenda

1. Section A Calcul mental (Coupe les zéros identiques) - tomorrow (Wednesday)

2. School photo order deadline is tomorrow (Wednesday)

3. Math Super Hero pages - Friday

4. Your Chevalier Clothing Store is now OPEN! Yay!
Samples available until Friday, Oct 4 and online store open until Sunday, Oct 6.